


Drabble Collection (1)

by Leni



Series: Leni's Drabbles [1]
Category: Multi-Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-16 17:32:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 150
Words: 15,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2278533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2601533?view_full_work=true">Continues here</a><br/>Fandoms (<i><a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2278533/navigate">Detailed list</a></i>):</p><p>+ Aladdin (Disney) - 1<br/>+ Beauty and the Beast (Disney) - 1<br/>+ Black Jewels Series - 4<br/>+ Blood Ties (books) - 1<br/>+ Blood+ - 1<br/>+ Big Bang Theory - 5<br/>+ Bones - 1<br/>+ Bridgerton Series - 1<br/>+ Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel - 16<br/>+ Dexter - 1<br/>+ Firefly - 1<br/>+ Frozen - 1<br/>+ FullMetal Alchemist - 11<br/>+ Glee! - 2<br/>+ Gone With The Wind - 2<br/>+ Harry Potter - 5<br/>+ Highlander - 2<br/>+ Labyrinth - 1<br/>+ MCU - 6<br/>+ Mercy Thompson - 5<br/>+ Much Ado About Nothing - 1<br/>+ Once Upon A Time - 58<br/>+ Phineas & Ferb - 2<br/>+ Pirates of the Caribbean - 1<br/>+ Repo! The Genetic Opera - 1<br/>+ Sherlock (BBC) - 3<br/>+ Supernatural - 1<br/>+ The A-Team - 1<br/>+ The Addams Family - 3<br/>+ The Little Mermaid - 1<br/>+ The Pretender - 1<br/>+ Tudors - 1<br/>+ Ugly Betty - 2<br/>+ Veronica Mars - 3<br/>+ X-Men (movies) - 3</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sherlock - John/Mycroft

Dating Mycroft Holmes meant that he'd been upgraded from an annoyance to a favorite target for the bad guys. "I wish people still believed it's your brother I'm sleeping with," John grumbled as soon as the gag was off.

Mycroft made a non-committal sound as he untied John's hands.

"Of course, now everybody thinks I was some kind of pet until you-"

"Rubbish," Mycroft muttered scornfully.

"I know!"

"Sherlock killed seven gold fish before Mother gave up," Mycroft continued. "He was much more careful with you."

Just for that, John decided, he'd let Sherlock have his brother's latest security password.


	2. Black Jewels - Daemon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Jewels Series. Daemon. pre_series

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/555746.html?thread=78214882#t78214882). Prompt: **I don’t need no company, and I don’t want to dance**

When the Yellow-Jeweled Lady who held the Ring of Obedience this year commanded his escort to this ball, Daemon knew he'd endure her friends' lascivious comments. He had only smiled when he pictured their responses should he slip off his leash.

They never smile back.

"Time to dance," his current jailer says, then frowns when he doesn't move. "Sadi!"

Daemon arches an eyebrow. The Yellow may have the power to break the Black, when aided by the High Priestess, but he'll turn this party into a bloodbath before he bends.

"Yes?"

The Lady trembles, and not in pleasure. "Never mind."


	3. BtVS. Faith. post-Chosen

It's the kind of place where the girls aren't carded, Xander's eyepatch doesn't get curious looks, and nobody cares which town their group comes from.

The perfect venue for their 'We survived!" celebration.

It's even better that nobody remembers her.

Once, Faith was the center of attention on this dance floor, gyrating tirelessly to every song. She'd demand sultrier tunes just to slide against some lucky bastard and tease him out of drinks and the contents of his wallet.

"It won't last forever," she warns her younger self, and laughs when she pictures the response: a middle-fingered salute, of course.


	4. Harry Potter. Harry/Hermione/Ron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/555746.html?thread=78215138#t78215138)

Ron glared between his wife and his best friend. "I'm being cheated."

A stranger would see a wife being embraced by a man who did _not_ wear a matching wedding ring. That stranger would be excused for coming to the obvious - yet completely erroneous - conclusion.

"Ron Weasley!" Hermione snapped. " _We_ are married. That means I share a room _with you_ while at the Burrow."

"It's Harry's turn," Ron insisted.

Harry shook his head. "But it's your family."

The stranger would be allowed to utter bafflement by now.

But if his Muffling charms were as useless against Hermione's snores, he'd understand.


	5. BtVS - Buffy/Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/555746.html?thread=78205410#t78205410).
> 
> In a world where Buffy is never the Chosen One, but just a Potential...  
>  **alternate _Prophecy Girl_**

For once, Buffy didn't care that Angel thought of her as a schoolgirl with a reckless streak. Hands still wet with the Slayer's blood, she clung to him with all her strength, letting his cologne override the musty smell of the underground.

It took her a long moment to realize he was clinging right back. 

"Hey," he whispered, arms around her. "It's okay. It's all over."

Buffy looked up, meaning to explain that it _wasn't_ over, but the open expression on his face robbed her of words. That was pride, and tenderness, and...

As recklessly as ever, she kissed him.


	6. OUAT - Belle (pre-curse)

For a few weeks, Belle had forced herself to a schedule that resembled her prior life. 

But the Dark Castle conspired against her, lighting fires and candles through the night or offering quiet darkness whenever she slept. Her master's erratic habits provided no guidance, either.

Soon she learned to leave the hardest chores for the evening cool, and to sleep through the warmth of the late morning. Discovering that she could stay up with a thrilling novel, with nobody to chide her, convinced her to discard the notion of schedules.

It shouldn't have felt like freedom; but, oddly, _it did_.


	7. OUAT - Belle (pre-curse)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/555746.html?thread=78212578#t78212578). Prompt: **last sunrise**

Belle woke up with a hard pressure under her cheek that meant she'd be wearing the imprint of a book cover. Groaning, she realized that the mark wouldn't vanish before Rumpelstiltskin's morning tea. He'd tease about her having allowed an interesting plot to steal her sleep - again.

It was too early, with the sun barely peeking outside, so Belle stayed in bed and planned how to keep her employer from noticing her silly habit.

(With Rumpelstiltskin, it was always best to plan ahead.)

Ah, yes. The boy's clothes.

There was a story there, and telling it should be distraction enough.


	8. OUAT - Belle (pre-curse)

Belle has learned that there's no need to rush to the grand hall at the sound of crashing glass and angry shouting. They are not under attack and, as Rumpelstiltskin laughingly pointed out that first time, her broom is no reliable weapon.

(He still threw her an offhand thanks for coming to the rescue of his furniture.)

She'd suggest that he talked it out instead of throwing these tantrums, but she's not _that_ brave. Maybe in time, if she feels confident that he won't shout at her instead... He could use a willing ear, she thinks.

Perhaps even a friend.


	9. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

Her annoyed sigh distracts him from tossing another vase against the wall. He stands still for a second, composing himself before turning to face her. "Yes, dearie?"

Her disapproving glance travels over the destruction. "I just cleaned here," she chides.

Yes, _chides_.

It still amazes him that she will rush in where everybody else is too terrified to tread.

"I must remind you this is _my_ castle."

"And I, that if there's something you love, it's your things," she says with the exasperation of knowing he'd been lying. "Be more careful, then."

He sneers. As if carefulness has ever helped.


	10. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

When Rumpelstiltskin realizes that, yes, the stubborn chit means to enter the room despite the debris on the floor, a wave of his hand clears her path. He's lost the taste for locking her in the dungeon, and trying threats and mockery just leaves him frustrated when she barges in anyway.

The girl must be desperate for company.

"Thank you," she says, but instead of her usual politeness, a mischievous grin accompanies her words.

"For...?" he asks, intrigued at this unexpected development.

Belle points to the place of the - now destroyed - collection of skull figurines. "I hated dusting those off!"


	11. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

This time Belle must be careful in her approach. After a year and more, she's grown familiar with Rumpelstiltskin's moods, flickering though they are. This is not one of his usual rages, as the pristine room can attest, and Belle discovers she'd rather pick up broken bric-a-brac and slashed paintings than break this tense silence.

Instead she perches on the table, purposely picks a spot within his reach, and orders herself not to push. Not this time.

Rumpelstiltskin doesn't share his troubles. He doesn't even acknowledge her presence.

But he doesn't send her away, either.

Belle counts it as progress.


	12. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/555746.html?thread=78311650#t78311650)

"Should I ever be away for long," Rumpelstiltskin says earnestly one day, "don't leave the castle. You're safer here."

She doesn't understand the point of the warning. "You leave often enough," she reminds him, "and I've yet to put foot outside."

"Ah, but I'm not talking of mere days, dearie. My enemies want me dead and forgotten." The words should be ominous, but instead they're dipped in giggly relish. "I might oblige them at some point."

As Belle cannot imagine him vanquished, one possibility remains: "You'll trick them, you mean."

Her insights don't shock him anymore.

"I'm glad."

 _That_ does.


	13. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

Rumpelstiltskin is fastidious with his tea tonight, keeping her around to refill his cup. He rarely makes such overt requests for her attention (and compared to popping up while she's sweeping a hallway, this _is_ overt), so Belle stands still, waiting for his next step.

His thumbnail starts clicking against the china before he speaks, "There's this book in the library.... Red bindings, really thick tome-"

"Oh, I've just started it. Do you... do you want it?"

"Well. I _guess_ you could read it out loud. For the two of us."

"Of course." Belle hides a smile. "That sounds fair."


	14. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

It's difficult to think of Rumpelstiltskin as her master when he seeks her in the kitchen and vanishes the ingredients for their dinner to force her focus onto him. "If the meat comes out too hard," she warns, "don't blame me."

Rumpelstiltskin makes a dismissing sound. "You won't care once you've seen the new addition to your library."

" _More_ books?"

Her delight meets a raised eyebrow. "You need more?"

Belle grows sheepish. "No, of course not. You've given me enough."

There's a luxurious reading couch waiting for her.

Before the season ends, all her shelves are filled to the brim.


	15. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

"Mmm, delicious!" Rumpelstiltskin breaks into a rare true compliment as he tastes her new recipe. "Know what'd go great with this? Dessert. Pity you haven't made any for a while."

"You mean, after you accused me of poisoning you?"

"Ah, yes." His lips twist in a grimace. "There was room for improvement. Whole lengths of it. Refrain yourself from baking, dearie," he continues, disregarding her growing annoyance. "Your stews and soups shall suffice."

"At least you approve of something," Belle says huffily as she snatches the dishes away.

Rumpelstiltskin watches her offended retreat. So fearless!

Yes, he just might approve.


	16. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

Belle strides into his study with an impunity generals would envy. "It's torn," she says, voice shriller than usual, as she holds up a dirty coat.

Indeed, it's the one with slashes across the chest. He forgot to trash it away.

It's not until he catches her looking for a matching injury that he understands her meaning. "You've seen me struck before, girl," he sighs impatiently.

"By a _magical_ bow. How am I to know how you fare against normal weapons?"

That's... not a stupid question, actually. "I'm fine." He glares at her, unsettled by her worry. "Is that all?"


	17. BtVS (post-series) - Cordelia&Xander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Amai Kaminari at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78826247#t78826247). Prompt: **surprise**.

"I... didn't expect to see you."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm way past being angry. I mean, we were - what, seventeen? Time to move on, I say." She walked past him and sat down, ever the princess to his gape-mouthed fool. "Besides, your being so pathetically single is revenge enough."

Xander clenched his jaw. "It's you, all right. Nobody could ever duplicate your... presence." Cordelia's smile said she'd take that as a compliment, but her cocked eyebrow warned to watch his next words. "Congratulations on your resurrection?"

"Relax; it's not permanent." Cordelia got comfortable. "So, about this new apocalypse..."


	18. OUAT. Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

Belle kept a wary distance from the box on the table. After the mishap with the unicorn heads - which he _had_ left covered, but had the curious girl thanked him for his consideration? - she had gained a modicum of restraint.

But only a modicum, as proved by her inching closer when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Go on, go on," he urged, tired of her hesitation. "Is this" -a ridiculously large bow appeared on top of the box- "enough of a clue?"

"A gift?" Her brows climbed up in surprise. "For me?"

Rumpelstiltskin glared impatiently.

Belle grinned back. "Thank you."


	19. BtVS - Buffy&Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tigriswolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78827783#t78827783). Prompt: **history won’t remember us – but that doesn’t mean we never lived.**

Buffy looked over the pitiful pile of Watchers' diaries they'd managed to collect. Almost a third of them belonged to Giles. "This can't be everything," she muttered. "All those girls... This _can't_ be everything."

The Council had been horribly flawed, but it had kept a detailed record of every Slayer. A useful tool to train the next Chosen One, but also proof that all those girls had lived and died for the world.

"'Fraid so, Buffy," Faith said, perhaps the only one in the room to understand Buffy's grief. "Guess we'll have to do with saying hello in our dreams."


	20. Mercy Thompson - Mercy&Jesse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> post-Night Broken

Mercy stood over her stepdaughter, making her best impression of stern parenthood. "Okay, what gives? You're smirking too much for homework, but not typing fast enough to be chatting with Gabriel. And," she added, "you obviously want me to ask or you'd be in your room."

"I'm doing research." Jesse angled the lap top screen. "For Dad."

Mercy got a glimpse of emerald water and blue skies. "Is that Hawaii? Oh no, he's still planning a surprise honeymoon?"

"Well, your honeymoon wasn't-"

"And Hawaii?" Mercy wondered in disbelief. "You do know we almost killed the last volcano we met, right?"


	21. OUAT - The Charmings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 75-word version was written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78840071#t78840071). Prompt: **age gap**

"I mean, I knew a wedding was coming," Emma says as she shows her parents how to burp a baby (because Emma's the only one who remembers raising a child) "but isn't Belle... you know."

"Too nice?" Mary Margaret guesses.

David smirks teasingly at his wife. "Too pretty?"

This is another difference between the Enchanted Forest and this world. For everybody else, Rumpelstiltskin has been a tale their grandparents were told in their nursery days; immortal and ageless. Emma sees a middle-aged man besotted by a girl. "Too young," she plunges in.

Her parents blink uncomprehendingly.

Emma sighs. "Never mind."


	22. BtVS  - Buffy&Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Iceybreath at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78851335#t78851335). Prompt: **love can't heal me**.

They've coincided at several apocalypses, but this is the first time they're staying at the same hotel. There's an awkward moment at the check-in desk, when the girl assumes they're sharing a room, but they manage to laugh it off and agree to meet later.

"Didn't think you'd fight this time," Angel admits. "Figured you'd be preparing for your-" He gives a badly hidden glance to her ringless fingers and trails off.

"News of my engagement have spread far," Buffy says, then shrugs. "He thought all I needed was love."

He laughs.

"Exactly," Buffy agrees. "As if that ever worked."


	23. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Amai Kaminari at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78826759#t78826759). Prompt: **command**.

The Dark One's dagger.

The only weapon that can end his life. The only force that commands his actions.

Rumpelstiltskin has always understood its importance, always known that he must keep it away from another's grasp. He would not end like Zoso, scheming to die.

But...

Time is so long, and the centuries blur the tales of the Dark One. Eventually nobody comes looking for the dagger, and it becomes as useful as a prop of a hide-and-seek game with no players. It can't help in his quest, and so it stops being a priority.

He never forgets. _Ever_

But...


	24. OUAT - Grace & Jefferson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tigriswolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78877959#t78877959). Prompt: **Jefferson + Grace, reunion**

"Is this really ours?" she asks her Papa, glancing at the shiny furniture and toeing off her shoes to sink her feet into the plushiest carpet she's never _imagined_ existed.

Her home... no, her parents' house... no, the house in Storybrooke... was comfortable and nice, and Paige always loved it. But Grace remembers their tiny cabin in the woods, and this... this _mansion_... How can it be?

"Yes, darling. All ours!"

There's a wildness in Papa's voice, but when Grace turns he's smiling fondly. "Come, let's see your room."

'How' doesn't matter, Grace decides. She belongs wherever her Papa is.


	25. FMA - Gracia/Maes + Elicia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50-word version written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/559367.html?thread=78876935#t78876935). Prompt: **Maes/Gracia+Elicia, Sleepytime**

The bedside clock announced that it'd been an hour since Maes had put Elicia to bed. It was usually Gracia's job, as her husband's work often stole him away at night. But today he'd been home, and he'd convinced their daughter with a promise to read her a story if she was good.

As if Elicia ever misbehaved when her father was home.

With a tired chuckle, Gracia got up and started her way to the nursery.

"Maes? Time for bed, honey."

Puppy-like eyes - two pairs - glanced up at her. 

"Just one more page," Maes begged, clutching Elicia tighter. "Please?"


	26. FMA - Roy&Riza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Schweinsty at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560033.html?thread=78936993#t78936993). Prompt: **Roy/Riza, Behind every great man is a great sniper**.

"Another day, another parade," Roy sighs.

He once loved the fame, the public adoration. Now it's another duty to discharge.

Roy lets out a final sigh of resignation before the Flame Alchemist steps into the stage with all the aplomb of a war hero being given his dues. On cue, the crowd breaks into applause and he allows a couple of pictures to be snapped before he takes his place. 

Force of habit drives him to check his gloves. Less perceptibly, he tilts his head to catch the sound of familiar steps echoing his. 

"Right behind you, sir."

Roy smiles.


	27. Highlander - Duncan&Methos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tigriswolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560685.html?thread=78975533#t78975533). Prompt: **Highlander/mythology, Methos, he's the Trickster God of half a dozen pantheons**.

"You're kidding!" Duncan tries to laugh off Methos' claim but can't quite do it. 

Methos stares.

"Of course you aren't," Duncan sighs.

"I did own a pair of sandals with wings at the heels." Methos shrugs. "They were only decorative, though."

"Hermes, huh." Pictures of the Greek god come to Duncan's mind, but as most of them are naked, he quickly shuts off that line of thought. "Anyone else?"

"Haven't you wondered why Loki is always set against the god of thunder?"

Duncan thinks that through, then grimaces. "Someone witnessed a Quickening?"

Methos nods. "Oh, and then there's the Egyptians..."


	28. OUAT - Belle/Rumpelstiltskin (M)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3-sentence version written for Yuidirnt at Comment Fic. Prompt: **smut in three sentences, go!**.

He wants to go slow, be gentle, prove that for once he can be patient and considerate _and he loves her so much_. But she's dragging his hand down between her thighs, pressing herself against his fingers, and her _yes_ is a hiss against his lips.

"Sweetheart," he says, trying to ignore the curls that brush against his skin, the wetness that welcomes him with such enthusiasm. "Sweetheart," he repeats, because he can be patient, he _can_.

She slides against him, calling him _my love, my darling_ and pleading for _now_ and _harder_.

"Oh, sweetheart," he sighs.

But he obeys.


	29. Bridgerton series - Violet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560985.html?thread=78998361#t78998361). Prompt: **the last one they expected to die**.

People hesitate before offering their condolences to her, to the silent widow holding her fatherless newborn through the wake, and Anthony takes advantage of it to distract them away. Violet appreciates her eldest son's efforts to spare her, and if they ever are able to speak of this day, she will tell him so.

But for now she's trying to hold off unwelcome thoughts: babies are lost in the womb, children sicken so easily; teenagers are reckless and prone to accidents, and the childbirth bed can take grown women away - so how can it be that she'd lose Edmund first?


	30. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Milah)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560985.html?thread=79008857#t79008857). Prompt: **The first cut won't hurt at all / The second only makes you wonder / The third will have you on your knees**

Things at home gradually deteriorate after he returns, crippled and shamed, but it takes years to understand he's truly lost Milah's regard. Then she is taken away (or, rather, he _believes_ she's taken away), and it makes him wonder whether he could have done something - anything - to keep his wife out of danger. 

But there was no danger (except from boredom, Milah says), and she doesn't care that he worried about her, doesn't care that Bae misses his mother ( _how. does she. dare?_ ), and now she's in love, truly in love, like she's never been in love before, and... and...


	31. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

When his son slips through his fingers (when Rumpelstiltskin lets him go), there's still hope that he will see Baelfire again in this Land Without Magic; so he tricks and lies and plucks at the strings of Fate to build the road across the worlds - and he wonders whether it's Fate's revenge that Snow and Charming, whom he used as bait for a heartsick queen, come to tell him that his boy's been shot and lost.

But Baelfire (Neal, his boy insists) is alive, and accepting his help, fighting at his side...

It's too good to last (so it doesn't).


	32. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

The memory of Milah stays longer than the woman herself ever did _(poor disappointed Milah, yearning for adventure - Milah, the lost - that heartless whore)_ but its sting eventually lessens and fades.

When he meets Cora, her child already links their futures; but Rumpelstiltskin seeks to bind them tighter, to sweep her away into a grand adventure and, once denied, wonders when he'll forget her as well.

Then Belle is living in his castle, dreaming up her own adventure within its walls, claiming to dream of him even as he sends her away (to her death) and _this_ he'll forever regret.


	33. OUAT - Cora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Crookedspoon at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560985.html?thread=79040345#t79040345). Prompt: **Never cared before**.

The first thought that crosses her mind - _having a heart didn't use to hurt this much_ \- is ignored when she catches sight of her daughter, her beautiful daughter, and a wave of warmth - _this is love, isn't it?_ \- fills her up.

But then there's pain, a sharp twist, not a heartbeat but a wound she shouldn't wear.

Regina rushes to kneel at her side, helpless tears already brimming in her eyes (for the first time, Cora doesn't hate the weakness that makes her daughter cry) and only now she understands that this - _this child, my child_ \- would have been enough.


	34. MCU (AU) - Thor & Loki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tigriswolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/561625.html?thread=79091673#t79091673). Prompt: **an AU where Odin gave Loki to another family to raise**

The man doesn't fulfill Thor's expectations. He's heard the stories, the rumors, the first-person accounts about unsolvable problems that find a solution at this doorstep. Power resides in this man's body, people whisper.

Thor expected someone bigger.

"So you're the foundling," he says, offering his hand.

The other man stares at it, cocks an eyebrow, and sweeps him a most correct bow. "And you're the prince." Clever eyes sweep insolently down the ripped armor and muddy boots. "You're not looking much like one, my lord."

Thor laughs. It's good to find someone honest. "I'd like to see you do better!"


	35. PotC - Jack Sparrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics Lover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/555851.html?thread=78233675#t78233675). Prompt: **I think "we've never met sober" is a great relationship to have with someone**

She plants herself in his path. "Hello, captain," she purrs.

"Sandy, my love!"

"It's Candy," she corrects, but allows the embrace.

"Aw. Aren't you sweetness itself?"

As if she's never heard that one before.

Stories say Sparrow is sharp and deadly, but now Candy only sees a grinning fool with a full bottle of rum in one hand and a decent purse of gold in the other. It's well-known which one he'd rather be relieved of; she can't remember ever seeing him sober. "Come, captain. Let's take care of you."

"Sounds great, lovey." Sparrow leers at her. "Lead the way."


	36. Frozen/Dexter - Elsa & Dexter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for BlondeBabe800 ar [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/561691.html?thread=79125275#t79125275). Prompt: **Frozen/Dexter, Elsa + Dexter, "You don't know what it's like to keep the biggest part of you hidden from your sister."**

He likes his job as an ice miner, out in the woods. But once a trimester, he comes to watch the trials.

One touch, and criminals are tossed into the ocean to melt their guilt away.

(His darkness remains hungry, but not unsatisfied.)

"You've come again," the senior judge says, her blonde hair gathered into a severe bun.

"It reminds me of home," he says truthfully. Elsa knows what he is. She came after him, when he still did not understand Arandelle's justice. "Did you enjoy that?"

She shifts, still uncomfortable. "Anna wouldn't understand."

Dexter nods. "Little sisters never do."


	37. MCU - Clint/Natasha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Ammcj062 at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560417.html?thread=78963233#t78963233). Prompt: **there's nothing hotter than watching Natasha shoot his bow**

A lucky bullet lodges in his arm, throwing off his aim and slowing his next shot. Clint's cursing is only halfway formed when Natasha appears at his side.

"Unacceptable," she murmurs.

He lets her take his bow because she's right. This mark cannot live.

In three seconds, there is chaos across the battle line. They fall while Natasha makes her shots with professional precision. It's the hottest thing he's ever seen. "I love how you handle my weapon," Clint tells her later, half honest praise, half hopeful innuendo.

Natasha slides up to him, kissing his jaw before whispering, "I know."


	38. SPN - Wee!chesters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Nanoks at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560417.html?thread=78967073#t78967073). Prompt: **little Sammy swallows a watermelon seed and thanks to some mean older kids who tell him now that he has a seed in his tummy he will explode he starts crying and he’s upset. Luckily big brother Dean is there to comfort him and set the record straight.**

"No."

Sam sniffles once more. "You're sure? Sure-sure?"

"That your tummy won't explode because a watermelon seed is growing in it?" Dean resists the urge to knock out the idiot kid that upset his brother. "I'm sure, Sam."

Sam mops his tears with his sleeve. "Okay," and after a last worried glance at his middle, he tries to smile. "If you say so."

Sam is way too innocent. Gullible. But Dean still likes having him as a little brother; Sam is sweet and well-behaved and he really believes that Dean's word is law.

Dean nods reassuringly. "Let's get home, Sammy."


	39. FMA - Resembool Trio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Evil Little Dog at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562105.html?thread=79136185#t79136185). Prompt: **Edward+/Winry+Alphonse, The first time they got drunk**

Pinako hasn't heard them giggle this much since Winry's eighth birthday, when they set up an outdoors game of hide-and-seek and then snuck back to eat the cake.

Ten years later, they've targeted her liquor stash instead.

"Granny!" Winry shrieks, hiding behind Edward. It's not an effective hiding place, when the boy barely tops her by two inches. He still gallantly stands up, groaning when he discovers the floor dancing below him.

Alphonse laughs - too loud - and then goes green with the effort. "We're busted," he stage-whispers.

The three peer fearfully at Pinako, exchange worried glances... and start giggling again.


	40. Mercy Thompson - Stefan & Warren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562105.html?thread=79141561#t79141561). Prompt: **blood-drunk**.

Stefan staggers to his feet when the door of his private room slams open. "Wolf," he greets, trying not to waver. "What are you-?"

Warren takes a deep sniff, then nods approvingly. "Nobody died, then."

"Told you so!" cries a feminine voice from the hallway.

Warren and Stefan look at each other. Both know that a vampire's sheep cannot be trusted.

"I know to take a little from each," Stefan slurs.

Warren nods. "Come, then. Kyle's waiting outside."

"You trust me close to your mortal?"

The werewolf snarls silently. "No. But I'll shred you to pieces if you try anything."


	41. Blood Ties (books) - Henry&Vicky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562105.html?thread=79153849#t79153849). Prompt: **drinking to forget only works if you can get drunk**.
> 
> This is based in the BOOKS.

It's been decades since Vicky felt this particular tug. _Vampire,_ it warns her, or it should, if it wasn't purring in welcome. "Henry," she acknowledges, downing another shot.

"That won't work," he says, ever so logical.

Mike used to laugh at her inability to get drunk. It doesn't seem funny now. 

"Never learned to stop trying for the impossible."

Henry chuckles, probably remembering those good times; but gets serious again. "I'm sorry. He was a good man." He sits at her side, and gestures for his own drink. "You mind?"

He'd leave if she asked, but misery loves company. "Stay."


	42. The A-Team - Hannibal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for AFullMargin at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/410268.html?thread=67251356#t67251356). Prompt: **The A-Team (TV or Movie), Hannibal (/any), a fine cigar**

Hannibal rather liked his life. The world needed a man's hard work, and their own case was proof that someone had to step up and right some wrongs before it was too late.

If he could be that person, he was happy to shoulder the duties.

Because he believed in their strengths. In justice. In the fact that good - as long as it kept its smarts and a decent arsenal - would always triumph over evil.

And when that failed, he believed in clever escape plans to wiggle their way out of trouble and fine cigars to celebrate after the fact.


	43. The Little Mermaid - Ariel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Katleept at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/410268.html?thread=67260828#t67260828). Prompt: **Just wriggling her toes in the sand has become an indulgence for Ariel now that she's Queen.**

_Freedom! ...Maybe._

Ariel glances back in the direction of the castle, then keeps running toward the beach when the path stays empty behind her. Eric must be running interference back home, keeping her maids too busy to notice her absence.

It's still a strange world, where her husband must save her from their own servants.

"They never expected a queen with a taste for the sea," Eric explained once, shortly after their coronation, "Give them time, love."

Time, she can give; but she needs _space_ in return.

And the feel of sand between her toes. She needs this as well.


	44. Mercy Thompson - Mercy&Tad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562105.html?thread=79142841#t79142841). Prompt: **humans may get drunk on alcohol, but [magical/fairy/mythological creature] only gets drunk on tea**

It wasn't easy to catch a coyote off-guard, but Tad had grabbed the cup off her hand and poured its contents down the closest drain before Mercy could do more than yelp in protest.

"Didn't I tell you about the tea?"

Mercy smelled true worry on the kid, so she shook her head and waited for an explanation.

"Look. You know Dad's had a tough time after Mom passed. He's just turned back to alcohol; I really don't want him to backslide."

"To _tea_?"

"It's... a thing."

A fae thing, Mercy guessed. Because life wasn't crazy enough. "What about coffee?"


	45. Glee - Finn/Rachel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562105.html?thread=79143097#t79143097). Prompt: **"How come anything that gets you high is also trying to kill you?"**

"Hurts," Finn mumbled when he tried to move, and dropped his head on his girlfriend's shoulder. Or he meant to, but he ended up kind of squishing Rachel's boob.

She giggled. "You shouldn't have had that last beer," she said.

It didn't sound like nagging, so Finn nuzzled against her (his) t-shirt. "Felt good."

"And now?"

"Now it's trying to kill me," he admitted.

"There, there," she petted his hair. "I'll make you feel better in no time."

Finn braced himself for a Streisand recital.

"Rock-a-bye baby..." she sang softly.

His favorite lullaby. Finn grinned happily. Of course she'd remember.


	46. The Pretender - Miss Parker & Jarod

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Catyuy at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/225394.html?thread=47168114#t47168114). Prompt: **One thing after another then one thing to many. Parker was finally done with the Centre. And she would destroy it with or without Jarod's help.**

Instead of a retrieval team, she sends a package to his next known address.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asks that night, laughing in disbelief. "It's proof, Parker. Of everything. If it's a trick..."

"It isn't."

He must believe her, because his tone turns concerned. "Why now?" He understands there's little that would drive her to betray the Center. "What happened, Parker?"

The words stick in her throat. "The orange file," she manages. The pictures alone will give her nightmares for months. "Just stop it, Jarod."

"No," and before she can misunderstand, he adds, " _you_ are stopping it already."


	47. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Belle)

If he had a kinder disposition for seafaring, he'd compare the girl to the waves of the ocean, always coming and going, always purposeful and so very _alive_. But, if he must think of her, he'll think of the thousand little rivers her footsteps have marked along his hallways, all converging next to him in the great room.

For the silly girl cannot be made afraid of him - he, who makes kingdoms quake and sets worlds atremble! - and instead she stays, and smiles and...

(he could drown in her kindness)

...and he'd rather not think of the girl at all.


	48. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Belle)

Rumpelstiltskin has long lived in solitude. There is no son to protect, no lover's whims to indulge. There is only stone and darkness and his many treasures, and a silence that's broken only by the pleas of the desperate.

Had anyone asked why it must be so, he'd have laughed and said it couldn't be any other way.

But Belle never asks the expected questions. Instead she tears down the silence along with his curtains, smiles sweetly and joins him for tea when he's never invited her.

He might be an island, but she's become the sea all around him.


	49. OUAT - Belle (pre-curse)

With time comes confidence, and though it's not quite like bravery, it's enough to go about her duties in the Dark Castle. It's a relatively easy burden, when one considers the size of Rumpelstiltskin's home and her position as his lone servant. Magic tends to the bigger tasks, and Belle suspects it could do everything else - but it wouldn't have a personal touch, would it?

So she leaves proof of her presence as she works: an open book, a discarded shawl, her sewing kit... And Rumpelstiltskin, who notices everything and could wave it all away, never mentions it at all.


	50. OUAT - Belle (pre-curse)

Tidying up the castle is important, of course, though Belle has no doubt that every room would be fit for a royal ball at one word from their master. She's discovered, though, that her main duty lies... elsewhere.

She's learned to prepare Rumpelstiltskin's favorite meals, and to watch him at breakfast to decide whether he'll want her visiting at midday, and to ask questions when he needs to be distracted. And she smiles, because he's yet to notice the change.

She wonders how he'll react, the day he finally realizes she's taking better care of him than of his state.


	51. OUAT - Belle (pre-curse)

Rumpelstiltskin's state is as large as he boasted that first night. After these many months, Belle still is not sure to have inspected the dozens of rooms, much less every spot in the outside grounds. If she allowed it, she could spend her life dedicated to the castle, with only her books to distract her.

But that would be the easy path.

It might be enough to satisfy her contract with Rumpelstiltskin, but Belle knows that there must be more to life. Even if she never leaves, her future is still her choice.

And she'll make the most of it.


	52. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

During her first winter in Rumpelstiltskin's castle, Belle finally finds her footing as part of his household. It shouldn't have been difficult, when he's expressly assigned her duties as caretaker; but there's the letter of the deal, and then there's...

"That smells good," Rumpelstiltskin trills, eyeing the plate she carries.

"Oh, you'll like it," she says confidently. "I doubled the butter and spared the pepper."

He looks pleased for an instant, but then turns suspicious, clearly wondering why she's literally catering to his tastes.

Belle almost sighs.

Dusting the entire castle isn't as exhausting as taking care of its master.


	53. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (pre-curse)

The girl is always there. She never makes demands; never asks questions he's not willing to answer, never makes him feel unwelcome, and never _ever_ shies away or shows the least bit of fear...

"Aren't you scared?" he asks once, truly baffled. "At all?"

The girl grows pensive. "Well, yes." He's about to crow in triumph when she continues. "There are plenty of scary things here, but I don't think they can be _that_ dangerous if you keep them within reach, right?"

"Such an odd girl!" he giggles, shaking his head. 

"Is that a problem?"

He shrugs. "Haven't decided yet."


	54. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Belle)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/560985.html?thread=79000153#t79000153). Prompt: **once in a while, the sea just finds it amusing to let the earth win (Matilyn Singer)**

Rumpelstiltskin never expected his maid to be _so close_ all the time; the girl was supposed to hide herself in her room (in her dungeon, actually, and be grateful for the lock) and skulk about to do her chores while he was away.

Instead Belle, ever-present Belle, humming-as-she-works Belle, cuts through his solitude like the sea would erode the toughest cliff, and she doesn't even jump fearfully when he snaps at her to move on and leave him to spin in peace.

"Of course," she submits, obeying him as she should - but he catches her amused smile as she leaves.


	55. Phineas & Ferb - Doofenshmirtz & Vanessa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for RadonDoran at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/351953.html?thread=61768401#t61768401). Prompt: **Vanessa's dad may be evil, but that doesn't mean he never gets mad at her for breaking the rules**

"Vanessa Doofenschmirtz!"

Vanessa whipped out her dark glasses right before beam lights filled the living room. 

Her dad, of course, had forgotten to take precautions.

"Aw, not again," he mumbled, but he still turned blindly in her general direction. "Aaanyway... We need to talk, young lady."

Safe from his scrutiny, Vanessa made a face at that idea. "It's not _that_ late."

Still blinking at nothing, her dad looked puzzled for a second before he waved off her words. "Yes, yes. Take that up with your mother. But, daughter," -he held up some towels- "must you leave these on the floor?"


	56. Harry Potter - Ron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Enochia at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/359151.html?thread=62831343#t62831343). Prompt: **Ron, he is sick and tired of explaining how conflict between Dumbledore and Voldemort does not correspond to a game of Wizarding chess on a grand scale.**

"Just to start, you _do_ realize you've just cast most of the Wizarding World as pawns, right? Sure, pawns do get a chance to get crowned if - _if!_ \- they make it all the way across the board, but is it really how you see yourself? As powerless and cannon fodder unless you go through some quest? You don't think it's _easy_ , do you?"

Galius blinks. "I...."

"It's a sore subject," Weasley's wife explains.

Weasley harrumphs. "Chess pieces don't make mistakes, and they always go back on the board for the next game." His expression darkens. "Comparing it to war, hah!"


	57. FMA - Roy Mustang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/359151.html?view=79214575#t79214575). Prompt: **Taking the queen back.**

Roy knows that he's known for his destructive power rather than his skill for strategy. It's the impression he's cultivated, ever since he realized he'd play more effectively as a useful weapon than as a potential adversary.

Power can help him move across the board as fast as he dares, and he dares much. Cleverness, if suspected by the wrong person, can be _dangerous_.

It can rob him off a crucial piece.

(Not his knight, not his rook, despite her attempts to shield him.)

They believe they've taken his queen permanently off the board.

He's eager to prove them wrong.


	58. FMA - Ed(/Winry) & Alphonse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562891.html?thread=79215051#t79215051). Prompt: **Ed, if you eat the last piece of pie, you're going to pay! - Winry** (post-it challenge)

Ed reads the note for the eighteenth time before giving it to his brother. "So, what do you make of it?"

Alphonse looks at the crumbs at the corners of Ed's mouth. "You _could_ make an emergency trip to Central," he suggests, wincing.

"That's never worked."

"Guess she knows where you find you..."

"That," Ed agrees, "and I always come back home anyway."

"You're doomed."

"Oh, yes," he says easily. "But my question is, does she really believe this note isn't a challenge, or does she like having one over me so much that she has to set it up?"


	59. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562891.html?thread=79218379#t79218379). Prompt: **"If you're reading this, I'm dead. I'm sorry. I had to try.** (post-it challenge)

Belle finds the note tucked into one of the tomes that crossed over after the last curse. She gulps down a sob mid-way through it, not because of the contents, and not because she misses Neal, but because she knows that, even though they were by themselves when he wrote it, this message isn't for her.

She must have made some distressed sound, because Rumple's worried voice comes from the front of the store. "Belle?"

His son's death it too recent, too raw. She _can't_ show this to him. Not yet. 

"Spider," she manages. "Don't worry."

He laughs. "I won't."


	60. MCU - Clint/Natasha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562891.html?thread=79219403#t79219403). Prompt: **Do not disturb. The spider is sleeping. - H.** (post-it challenge)

Hours later, Clint makes his way to Natasha's quarters with a box of donuts in hand. (She can get hungry after a big mission). He moves to tear down the note he left on her door, but cringes when he sees the thick dot with eight little sticks coming out of it. It's hanging from a long string of z's.

Natasha's crisp handwriting stands out beneath: 'Don't call me that, H.' and further below, 'Very cute, Tony'.

Clint shrugs. At least he won't be her first target. Once she's done with Stark, he'll trust the donuts to save his hide.


	61. OUAT - Belle (Storybrooke)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for DoreyG at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/563609.html?thread=79289497#t79289497). Prompt: **Stephanotis: Marital bliss** (Language of Flowers challenge)

Belle was never a florist's daughter, and Lacey never bothered to learn the subtleties of her father's trade, but in the Enchanted Forest, there were things every girl of marriageable age knew.

For example, which flowers promised marital bliss.

"Of course," her father says when she picks out the little white blossoms for her wedding bouquet. "I should've---"

He should have offered these, he means.

"It's okay," Belle tells him.

The flower is just a nod to tradition, anyway. The promise that counts is Rumpelstiltskin's, and ( _for better or worse, until death do them part_ ) Rumpelstiltskin never breaks a deal.


	62. OUAT - Baelfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TattooedDevil at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/563609.html?thread=79292569#t79292569). Prompt: **Dragonswort (Horror)**.

Baelfire understood war before he knew there were words for it, and by then, he also understood those words made his mother's gaze harden and his father glance away and seek refuge in his work. He learned early not to bring war into their home, not to speak about the tales of heroes and songs of victory, and to never _ever_ mention the few bloodied bodies that made their way back to their village, and how those families were envied by those who had only their memories to mourn.

War breathed around Baelfire, but Baelfire learned to ignore it anyway.


	63. FMA - Ed/Winry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/563609.html?thread=79290777#t79290777). Prompt: **Lily-of-the-Vally (Return of Happiness)**

"Guess what I found," Winry said, plucking his book away with one hand and keeping the other behind her back, moving counter-wise when Ed tried to peek around.

"Old pictures," he guessed.

"Nope."

"A note you never gave me, declaring your undying love."

"What? No!" She laughed and pulled out her treasure. "This!"

Ed eyed the... thing. "A stick?"

"It's my old sword, silly!" -and she tapped the top of his head with it.

He faked an injured howl and rubbed the site pointedly. "Yes," he told her, half-meaning the glare, "the memory is starting to come back to me."


	64. Harry Potter - Snape (/Lily)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Katsuno Hitomi at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/563609.html?thread=79311513#t79311513). Prompt: **Asphodel (My regrets follow you to the grave)**

_"I'm afraid, Severus," Lily tells him shortly after their Hogwarts letters arrive._

(No, she didn't; but he likes to think that she would have, had she ever felt afraid.)

Now she's beyond needing his help.

(He tried to help her. He _did_. But he tried too late.)

_"I'm so sorry, Lily," Severus tells her, begging for forgiveness while his left arm burns in pain._

(No, he didn't, but he likes to think that he would have confessed everything, had he seen a chance.)

Now she's beyond granting mercy.

Lily is dead, and all he has are words they never said.


	65. Bones - Booth & Brennan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/563860.html?thread=79321748#t79321748). Prompt: **"'Love' is too strong a word, but I don't dislike you."**

Booth can't help it. Around this woman, he turns back to the stupid kid who sneaked behind a girl's back just to unclip her hair, and then claimed she looked better that way before she could start yelling at him.

Except he never quite gets that second part right, these days.

"Come on, Bones," he wheedles, "Don't be mad. You know you love me anyway!"

She pauses, tilts her head in thought. "'Love' is too strong a word," she says slowly, obviously weighing each word, "but I don't dislike you."

Booth can't help his grin. "I like you too, Bones."


	66. OUAT - Belle & Ruby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/563860.html?thread=79330708#t79330708). Prompt: **What if I accidentally swallow it?"**

As Belle explored this world, she discovered things both beautiful and terrible, useful and amusing, and some were just... baffling. "What if I accidentally swallow it?"

Ruby laughed. "It's just bubblegum." -and she offered a little green piece- "Here. Try it."

And because she _did_ trust her new friend, Belle popped it into her mouth. Her eyes widened at the sharp taste. "Not bad," she said at last, cautiously chewing.

"Told you so." Ruby blew a bubble and popped it, laughing again at Belle's obvious curiosity. "I'll teach you how to do that next," she promised.

Belle nodded. "Sounds great."


	67. OUAT - Ruby + Belle/Rumpelstiltskin

Ruby was so nervous that the sight that greeted her in the pawnshop didn't fully register until after the pair had put some distance between them.

"Ruby!" Belle gasped, already blushing.

If disaster weren't looming, Ruby would have teased her. Or maybe not, because Mr. Gold - _Rumpelstiltskin_ was standing by. "Ah... I..."

"Yes, Miss Luc-?"

He frowned. Apparently, her name had gotten tangled around a piece of gum he'd not realized had slipped into his mouth.

Belle blushed harder.

Ruby groaned. Coming to ask about her cape was bad enough, but _this_ must be the worst part of her day.


	68. Big Bang Theory - Penny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For ClassicsLover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/562891.html?thread=79226571#t79226571). Prompt: **in unfamiliar, somehow ominous writing, a sign: "DO NOT TOUCH THE THING". Further down the path, in familiar writing this time, "No, really DON'T TOUCH THE THING. Bad things happen when you touch the Thing."**

Penny did a double-take at her door. 

There was a huge box sitting right next to the elevator. In another building, perhaps it wouldn't have been strange; but their elevator had been broken forever. Good to lower the rent, bad for heavy packages.

More curiously still, the box was wrapped in aluminum foil.

Penny couldn't help approaching for a closer look. A note cautioned against touching it. Despite the unfamiliar writing, she had a suspicion - a suspicion confirmed with the second note in Leonard's scrawl.

Penny faced the guys' door and yelled, "Whatever you're doing, I'm not falling for it!"


	69. Big Bang Theory - Ensemble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of follows from #68

Sheldon drew a new line on the board at the sound of yet another yelp from the hallway. "Fifty-seven!" he crowed, and then frowned. "I had no idea so many neighbors came this way."

"Some touched it twice," Howard explained without looking up from the feed of the hidden camera outside. Next to him, Raj let out a whistle. Howard grinned. "Hot Girl from 6B is now going for her fourth try."

Penny chuckled grimly. "I'm losing my faith in humanity."

"Because people won't listen to the warnings?" Leonard asked.

Penny snorted. "Because we're electrocuting people - and I'm having fun!"


	70. Phineas & Ferb - Buford & Phineas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for WinterJameson at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/424140.html?thread=68107212#t68107212). Prompt: **Buford, gratitude**

The neighborhood children climbed out of the new sub-lava-rine (because there had been news about a nearby active volcano) and shouted out their thanks for another grand adventure before making their way home.

In the end, only one boy remained.

"Eh, Buford?" Phineas approached him. "Everything okay?"

"I'm not sure. A part of me wants to thank you," -for once, the bigger boy appeared pensive instead of threatening, "but I mostly want to warn you that your ideas are getting boring. Where are the mummies? The lake monsters?"

"Ah! Constructive criticism!"

"Whatever. Just make sure tomorrow is fun - or else!"


	71. FMA - Ed/Winry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/518144.html?thread=75301888#t75301888). Prompt: **They both hate dressing up (no matter how good they may look doing it)**

Ed strode into their bathroom, holding up a long strip of silk. "Help?"

Still in her underwear, Winry let the hair dryer down and gave him an exasperated look. "Bit busy here, Ed!"

He snapped the tie around his neck, but left it hanging. "Dunno why's the fuss."

"Because he's the Xing Emperor."

"Because he knows formal dress is _torture_ ," Ed countered. He waited until Winry had slipped into her dress and presented her back for him to zip her up, then softened his voice. "You look amazing, though."

Smiling, she turned to knot his tie. "You're not far behind."


	72. FMA - Ed/Winry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cont. from #71

Winry had no idea how the other women managed to smile through a fourth hour of standing and dancing. She could manage the politicking, the condescension, the flirting Lin kept aiming her way in an (always successful) attempt to rile Ed. But her feet were _killing_ her.

"Serves you well for wearing those shoes," Ed whispered, eyeing her footwear maliciously.

Winry glared at him.

He might pretend that he hated how they hurt her, instead of how they made her taller than him, but Winry knew better. "Lin," she called sweetly, ignoring Ed as she approached their friend, "wanna dance?"


	73. Black Jewels - Geoffrey & Draca

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/564942.html?thread=79429070#t79429070). Prompt: **dragons are really just enormous cats -- good thing [character's] a cat person**

"Foolissssssh boys," Draca says to Geoffrey as she enters the library, bristling with suppressed fury. "Should have left them in Hell. That would teach them not to messsssss with the Gates."

Through the centuries, Geoffrey has learned much about dealing with dragons. He summons a carafe of their finest wine. It's not warm milk, but it'll do. "This should help."

Her anger melts away, and soon Draca is curled up on the couch, sipping contentedly.

Jaenelle says that they are all dragons inside.

But Geoffrey also knows that, inside every dragon, there's a kitten waiting for a reason to purr.


	74. OUAT - Emma & Regina & Henry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TattooedDevil at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/564942.html?thread=79423438#t79423438). Prompt: **of course Regina would be the most feral kitty in existence, did she really expect anything else?**

Emma hissed as she put peroxide on the long scratches. "I'll get even, Regina," she told the bristling black queen-turned-mayor-turned-cat.

"Mom!" Henry protested, pulling his other mother into his lap too quickly for Emma to forbid him.

Regina, of course, immediately curled up and started purring.

"See? She's a nice cat," Henry said, petting his mother's furry head. "You shouldn't have startled her."

Emma gaped in disbelief. "So I'm the bad one now?"

Henry looked guilty, but didn't deny it.

She glanced back at Regina, and through the fur and whiskers, Emma could have sworn she saw a triumphant grin.


	75. Harry Potter - Sirius & James & Remus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic.](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/564726.html?thread=79402998#t79402998) Prompt: **two characters switch bodies and it takes a while before others notice**.

Remus glared between his friends. "Have you lost your minds?!"

"Nope, we kept those," James's voice answered, but the mischievousness behind the glasses was all Sirius. "Relax, Moony. Nobody's noticed yet."

" _I've_ noticed!"

"But you're our best friend," said James, and the reasonable tone sounded strange in Sirius's voice. "Even Peter has been fooled so far."

Remus shook his head. " _Why_?"

Sirius's face blushed redder than ever. "Uh... He said...."

"He wouldn't believe that Evans stares after him when he's not looking," Sirius-in-James's-body finished.

"And Polyjuice was the solution?"

James's shoulders shrugged. "Easier than getting Prongs to ask her himself."


	76. OUAT - Grace (&Regina &Rumpelstiltskin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Tigriswolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/542394.html?thread=77011642#t77011642). Prompt: **Grace, tea parties with dark ones and royalty.**

Any child would be terrified to be alone with these two, but Grace is _the Hatter's child_ and in this world that grants her some protection.

"More sugar, your Highness?"

The Queen demurs politely, and the Dark One shakes his head before Grace can address him. That's a relief. Her father may have explained that, if necessary, it's better to run _to_ Rumpelstiltskin than _from_ him (not always the case with Queen Regina, he had added), but he's never said what to do when both came to visit.

So Grace does what she knows best, and pours them more tea.


	77. AtS - Gunn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TattooedDevil at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/565327.html?thread=79459663#t79459663). Prompt_ **losing my family isn’t the worst that ever happened to me.**

Having his little sister torn from his side, from what little safety he's managed to claw out from these streets, makes Gunn rage inside. He cares about the others that were taken with her, of course, but Alonna is his blood, his flesh, the tiny baby he promised to take care of.

He _swore_.

He's not ready to face this Alonna, this smirking girl who offers to give him immortality in exchange for his life, and then laughs when he refuses.

His sister is gone. That should be horror enough.

But he must deal with what's left, and that's worse.


	78. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Belle)

It's best that the girl is gone, Rumpelstiltskin thinks and thinks again as the wheel spins. She was a nuisance, a whim, a betrayer at worst and a weakness at the very best (or was it the other way around?). The castle does well without her, without her dusting, without her sweeping and mopping and smiling and their little conversations. 

Yes, the castle does well indeed.

She'll do better, too, he thinks sometimes, letting the wheel slow down and the straw turn to ashes. In her home, with her people and her pretty clothes.

Yes, it's best that she's gone.


	79. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Belle)

Regina must be lying - _she must!_

It cannot be true - _it can't!_

But of course it's true. It's what life does to him. He loses everything he--- 

He loses _everything_ , and it doesn't matter that he's already lost Belle. It was his choice. It doesn't count. He sent her away, thinking to spare himself _this_. Better to get rid of her than to lose her, right? Better her anger than her scorn, right? So smart he was! Ordered her to go, to leave, to return to her loved ones (hah!), and she's dead because of it.

_Of course it's true._


	80. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin (&Belle)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/565327.html?thread=79463247#t79463247). Prompt: **sometimes with loss comes clarity**

"She died," Regina tells him with such relish that he wants to choke the smile out of her. But he cannot move, cannot speak but for a hissed denial. In his own castle, behind his best defenses, he's laid low by the images that accompany those words: the girl, hurt and bleeding, broken and worse, despair leading her to a last act of defiance (and it would be defiance, to the end).

There's a sob building in his throat. A howl that cannot - must not - be heard by another soul.

The Dark One doesn't love.

But Rumpelstiltskin... Rumpelstiltskin might have.


	81. Firefly - Inara(/Mal)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/565327.html?thread=79464271#t79464271). Prompt: **It is cliche and unacceptable to admit to love while dying, so you're not allowed to die.**

It's not the first time she's seen Mal hurt badly. It's not even the first time her hands are slick with his blood. But it's the first time Simon looks too focused, with words escaping him only to ask for more bandages and better light, a wall of orders to keep the worry at bay.

It's the first time Inara curses her ability to read men too well.

"Don't die," she tells Mal. Hisses, because that's the only tone he takes seriously from her. "You said you loved me, you _said_. Don't think you'll be taking those words with you!"


	82. Addams Family - Wednesday & Pugsley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/564726.html?thread=79406582#t79406582). Prompt: **any bodyswapped M+/F, "I have to pee."**.

Wednesday noticed her brother squeezing her legs together, and sighed. After this, Uncle Fester owed them. He owed them _big_ , and he owed her _more_.

Ten minutes later, Pugsley managed a sound Wednesday's body had never made. "I have to pee," he whimpered.

Pugsley's glare wasn't discouraging enough. "If you go, I go," she relented.

Her brother started nodding, his long thick braid swinging wildly, and had jumped to his feet when Wednesday said, "But if I get any trouble," -she mimed the snip of scissors- "I'm taking care of it my own way."

Pugsley hurried back to his seat.


	83. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/565327.html?thread=79474767#t79474767). Prompt: **The loss of something absolutely nonessential to anyone but the person who lost it.**

Of course Moe doesn't know what he's taken, this one little thing he's squirreled away. He doesn't understand that he could have kept everything else instead. By all gods, Gold would have conveniently forgotten about the whole thing, if Moe had returned what really mattered to him.

Because Gold doesn't need the hassle of the sheriff looking too closely into his business.

(Because he once promised this man would be safe.)

But deals are broken when the other party's dead, he's suddenly decided today.

_He wants it back._

(He wants _her_ back. But he'll settle for the chipped cup instead.)


	84. BtVS - OCs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics Lover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/565512.html?thread=79487240#t79487240). Prompt: **arguing about what take away to get**.

Brian rolled his eyes at Marshall. They'd been best friends since grade school, and Brian was used to his quirks, but sometimes... "Not another blonde," Brian told him. "We need some variety, man."

But Marshall had been the kid with peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for lunch _every single day_. Decades later and undead, he still liked his routines. "But..."

"Come on. What about a brunette? Or a redhead? Hell, let's go wild and pick a guy this time!"

Marshall looked unsure at first, but at the mention of the guy, he seemed intrigued.

Brian latched onto that.

There might be hope, yet.


	85. MCU - Pepper/Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/549892.html?thread=77713412#t77713412). Prompt: **red red wine**

She finds Tony on the roof, sitting with his legs spread before him and leaning back against his elbows, facing the city. He is too close to the edge, but she's seen him balance a few inches from nothingness, his speech slurred when he wasn't guzzling even more alcohol.

There's an unopened bottle beside him now.

"Want some company?"

He cranes his head back to look at her. Smirks. "What are you offering?"

Pepper gestures at the bottle. "I could help."

"Hm. The finest red wine and the finest girlfriend." His smirk sharpens. "Wonder how I can mix them together."


	86. Big Bang Theory - Ensemble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics Lover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/565964.html?thread=79515596#t79515596). Prompt: **So, got kind of drunk last night, made out with some guy, and somehow stole his credit card. Don't even know.**

With this head-splitting hangover, Penny is definitely not in the mood to tiptoe around the three unconscious bodies in her living room. So she nudges Leonard's middle with her foot, kicks Howard's arm out of her way, and half-steps on top of Raj's outstretched fingers.

(Raj's yelp is the loudest noise Penny's ever heard from him.)

"Rise and shine, boys! You can track credit cards, right? Because I can't remember who I made out with last night. Which would be fine. If I hadn't stolen his credit card... Guys?"

But they aren't listening anymore, too busy looking through their wallets.


	87. OUAT - KIllian/Milah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for LivingToLaugh at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/403958.html?thread=66837238#t66837238). Prompt: **Hook/Milah, he should have kissed her just once more**.

"Are you crazy?!" he thunders as soon as they're back on the Jolly Roger. Every time he remembers Milah drawing the attention of the _thing_ that was her husband... "He could've killed you!"

She's stubborn, his Milah. Soft as a well-petted kitten, when she's content - and Killian likes to indulge her wish for adventure, as it matches his own so well. But when she's riled... "And he _would_ have killed you!" she yells back.

He should kiss her. Tell her he loves that she's a fighter. But he's still angry, and they can always make up after her husband's gone.


	88. Ugly Betty - Betty & Daniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics Lover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/403958.html?thread=66831094#t66831094). Prompt: **if you change your mind, I'm the first in line**

Daniel has been so attentive these last weeks, showing Betty around London and helping her acclimate. But he's not doing it out of friendship only, is he?

"I'm not dating you," Betty blurts out during dessert, trying not to fidget. He looks hurt, so Betty continues, "I mean, I don't want to date. Anybody. At all."

Daniel relaxes. "Okay..."

"It's just-. New city, new job, new _life_. I need..."

"Space," he says.

Betty nods, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

"Hey, we're friends first." He smiles. "But if you change your mind..."

She smiles back. "You're first in line, promise."


	89. BtVS - Giles (&Xander, Willow, Buffy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for MangaCrack at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/366233.html?thread=63781017#t63781017). Prompt: **children who do not return from war**.

Giles remembered the children he met, so many years ago. He remembers their enthusiasm, how eager they were to help, how amazed that there was truly a battle against evil, and that their efforts would count in it. Giles remembers their fears, and how childish they really were. But they learned, didn't they?

They learned that the cruelest monsters sometimes were hidden under human skin. They learned that no matter the sacrifice, there was always more to mourn. They learned that though victorious, they'd never win at all.

Those children marched off to war, and they never really came back.


	90. Shakespeare (Much Ado About Nothing) - Hero/Claudio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Aestivali at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/366233.html?thread=63796377#t63796377) . Prompt: **Hero/Claudio, not believing in Hero's innocence**

It's not until they're giddy with the wine served at Beatrice and Benedick's wedding, pressed tight against each other in their happy bed, that Claudio ventures the dreaded question. He, who has looked upon the battlefield with a calm stare; tonight buries his face in Hero's hair and makes his words a tentative whisper. "Have you forgiven me, my dearest Hero. Truly?"

His wife, too smart to ask his meaning, turns in his arms to look at him. "You had good cause, if not a reason." And she soothes the reprimand with a kiss. "You're forgiven, so rest easy now."


	91. MCU - Tony/Pepper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/566852.html?thread=79610436#t79610436). Prompt: **No one wants to babysit the Potts-Stark twins...NO ONE**.

"I don't understand," Tony says, staring at his phone as if it were a viper. Considering the yelling Pepper could overhear, their (now former - the sixth this month!) babysitter was just as poisonous. After an afternoon with the girls, not even a plump monthly salary with the benefits Congressmen _dream of_ will bring her back.

"We've talked about this before," Pepper tells Tony, already aware that it fell on empty ears. He is a genius who grasps and bends Physics to his whim - yet he's completely blind to their daughters' ways.

"But... they're adorable!"

Pepper sighs, resigned. "So are you."


	92. VM - Lily/Lamb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/566631.html?thread=79590503#t79590503). Prompt: **sixteen-year-old girls aren't supposed to propos(ionate) to thirty-year-old men**

"But I'm Lily Kane," the girl says, and though her mouth turns into a pout, her eyes are blazing. "You can't mean to arrest me, Deputy. It's just a harmless little party..."

With half the high school in attendance, and alcohol as the least of the evils offered.

Don thinks of the Sheriff's disappointment, should he skirt his duty. He also thinks of what Jake Kane's power can do to someone who embarrasses his teenage daughter.

"I'll tell you what-" Lily grins at his hesitation, stepping unbearably closer. "If you don't tell, I won't tell."

"What....?"

And she kisses him.


	93. BtVS - Xander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/566398.html?thread=79560318#t79560318). Prompt: **he/she never expected to be a post-apocalyptic despot**

In the end, he was the only option left. 

Buffy was the hero, protecting the settlement they'd carved out from the ruins. She couldn't worry about allotting each home the water they needed, and not a drop more.

Willow had tried, but this new world called for drastic measures. Dissent had to be discouraged, with humanity still too weak to afford rebellions. She'd managed through the first executions, but quit after the third wave, unable to stomach any more of it.

"We trust you," they'd said.

(Until they didn't.)

Xander endured it all, because he's always done what he must.


	94. Beauty & the Beast - Belle (&Beast)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/566398.html?thread=79566718#t79566718). Prompt: **they meet three days after the end of the world**

Whatever it is, it's all furs, fangs and horns towering over her. After three days on the run from real monsters, all Belle notes is that it's not attacking her. "Help me," she whispers, aware this is her last hope.

She's not a fool. She should have been caught already. But something this deep in the forest keeps the flesh-eaters away. Something scarier, perhaps.

Before, she'd have been terrified at the sharp claws. Now there's only sweet relief.

"Please help," she says again, hoping it will understand.

Not that it matters.

Whatever this beast is, she's keeping close to it.


	95. AtS - Connor & Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/566852.html?thread=79610180#t79610180). Prompt: **Introducing Angel to his first granddaughter**

It had been weird to introduce Angel to his in-laws as a younger distant cousin - one who teared up at his first sight of the new addition to the family, as if things weren't awkward enough. He couldn't even take his daughter back yet, as something warned him he'd have to fight Angel for it.

A tussle in the middle of the maternity ward would put him forever in his father-in-law's bad side.

But the worst came when he got a good look at Angel's face. "Not a speech," he pleaded. "Believe me, I _already_ know how lucky I am."


	96. BtVS - Xander

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marlex at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/567356.html?thread=79631420#t79631420). Prompt: **friends or couple make up their own holiday and a festival in which to celebrate it**

Xander handed the plush toy to the Slayer who'd managed to connect the most hits against the 'First Evil' (Buffy in a black robe; payback for wearing her face during that last battle, she said), Before him, most of the girls in line either wore 'Goodbye, Sunnydale' t-shirts or were munching on the scythe-shaped cookies Willow had made.

"We're going to hell," he groaned again.

"We celebrate that we _didn't_ ," Buffy reminded him, and then she waved over the next four girls. "It was this or a memorial, remember?"

And this made _money_ , Xander thought. Anya would have loved it.


	97. GWTW - OC (&Scarlett)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for With_Rainfall at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/375354.html?thread=64756282#t64756282). Prompt: **working class man**

John owned a law office close to Kennedy's Emporium, and gentlemen forced to work for their living must stick together. So he headed over to offer his congratulations - and was surprised to find the new Mrs. Kennedy minding the store instead. Going over the books, even! 

A striking girl, with calculating green eyes that hid behind a sweet smile. Not the kind of woman he'd expect to be wooed by the likes of Frank. But John's job relied on reading people, and he'd bet his practice against the girl's new gloves that old Frank hadn't done the wooing at all.


	98. MCU - Pepper/Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/347667.html?thread=61324307#t61324307). Prompt: **Tony has to tell Pepper about Agent Coulson's death.**

Tony must do this the right way, even if there's nothing _right_ about it. It must be done, nonetheless.

He escapes the debriefing as soon as possible, and finds Pepper all proud smiles and hugs of welcome. It's even harder, then, to tell her. So he kisses her until he's brave enough to try.

He'd rather face the Chitauri again.

"Pep," he starts, holding eye-contact by sheer will. "Pepper...."

She looks momentarily confused, but then she gasps and tears up. "It's Phil, isn't it? The news showed everyone else..."

At least he gets to hold her. _That_ he gets right.


	99. BJT - Daemon & Ladvarian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Creepy_Shetan at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/428829.html?thread=68764445#t68764445). Prompt: **walking the dog(s)**

Daemon looked down at the furry Warlord. In the days since his arrival at SaDiablo Hall, he'd learned of things he'd never dreamed of while in Terreille, of ways the Blood bonded without oppressing each other. But the kindred still surprised him... "Walkies?"

Ladvarian nodded, his tail wagging. *Yes. We'll go out, and I'll show you the good paths, but only I will mark territory, because you are human and you don't do it like that.*

Daemon bit on a snort.

In Kaeleer, when a Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince walked the dog, it was obviously the dog that led the way.


	100. The Addams Family - Gomez/Morticia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics_Lover at [Comment Fic.](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79691435#t79691435) Prompt: **only you can tie me up**

His arms are pulled behind his body, his wrists bound so mercilessly that every blood vessel protests. His legs are free, for now, but that's little help when a strong leather belt snakes around his waist, holding him against the wall.

Gomez groans and rubs his foot against his wife's calf, shuddering as the black fabric of her favorite dress slides against his skin. Morticia takes the hint and kneels before him, and soon his foot is yanked down and cold chains slip around his ankles, securing him further.

"Only you," he rumbles, and Morticia rewards him with a gag.


	101. Mercy Thompson - Adam/Mercy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics_Lover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79691435#t79691435). Prompt: **only you can tie me up**

Adam hated thinking of Mercy being drugged and shoved into a van, brought here and held for eight hours. He couldn't even blame Mercy's ties to the fae or the vampires, this time; this was a move against an Alpha's mate, and by God, if they'd harmed her, the fools would get the murdering beast they accused him of being.

Instead he found a roomful of men cowering from a growling coyote - a coyote half-wrapped with loosened ropes that would have held a woman.

"Amateurs," Mercy sniffed later that night, cuddling up to him. "Only you tie me up right."


	102. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

Walking through the rabble caused by the wraith feels like penance, with his hurting leg, but it's a lighter punishment than he deserves. Today he's come too close to lying to Belle, so close that she cannot see the difference at all, and now that his thirst for vengeance is sated (now that he's seen the terror in Regina's eyes), Rumpelstiltskin feels...regretful.

Oh, he'd do it again, he doesn't hold illusions about that. He's centuries too old to learn new tricks, and better that his anger consume others rather than himself.

He can take the blame. He always has.


	103. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Rumpelstiltskin mentions a carriage, a 'car' they can't use with the streets in such disarray, and apologizes for the inconvenience of needing to walk to his house.

(He says _disarray_. Belle thinks _chaos_ , and shudders at the idea of the unholy thing that caused this - and the fact that Rumpelstiltskin bid it come.)

"I don't mind," she tells him, though her legs are already complaining about the trek to the well and back. It's been years since she's walked more than a few yards at a time - decades! "Let's go."

Pain can wait.

All she wants is to go home.


	104. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Belle can practically hear the thoughts running through his mind as they walk. She knows he hates feeling guilty; she'd seen it often enough, when a spell misfired in a room she'd just cleaned or a magical object wasn't tamed well enough not to try to kill its new master's maid. She knows he's quick to shove the guilt on someone else's head, though with them alone at the Dark Castle, and she unknowing in the ways of magic, there had been little to blame her for.

She knows that he's thinking of apologizing.

She also knows that he won't.


	105. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Belle sneaks a glance at his right leg, trying to come to terms with this new weakness of his. It's not that Rumpelstiltskin falters in his step, for all that his cane encounters debris and broken glass, but Belle remembers him striding easily along the castle halls, his thoughts locked on whatever new deal or spell entertained him that day. She remembers trailing after him in the Sherwood Forest, and how swift his movements had been as he single-mindedly tracked his prey.

Now he must spare a thought to where he treads next.

What else has changed, since she left?


	106. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Midway to his home, Belle realizes she had expected Rumpelstiltskin to discard the cane already. What could have injured his leg so terribly, that even the return of magic is not healing it? 

In her last months in Avonlea, when every hand was needed to treat the soldiers, Belle had seen enough to guess what kind of wound would need the permanent aid of a cane, and what mind-numbing pain it would have caused.

And Rumpelstiltskin had endured it alone in an empty castle.

If for nothing else, she hates the Queen for locking her away when he needed help.


	107. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

"What happened?" she asks at last, unable to hold off her worry. She has seen an arrow strike through his heart, and Rumpelstiltskin laughed it off as a mere annoyance. The fact that something has hurt _him_ , that he _can_ be hurt... It scares her.

He gives the bad leg a hard glare. "Nothing of interest," he tells her. "A stubborn old injury, that's all."

Belle blinks in confusion. "Old? But..."

"Maybe later," he snaps, picking up the pace. "If you still wish to know."

He's hoping she will have forgotten by then, she knows.

"All right."

But she won't.


	108. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Belle never imagined that Rumpelstiltskin had been mourning her - and mourn he had. The girl who'd walked into his shop earlier today hadn't known what to make of Mr. Gold's effusive reaction (except to intuit that he meant to protect her, whatever his reasons), but Belle has lived with the man for almost two years. No matter what face he wears now, she can read his emotions as she replays the memory.

He's truly believed she was dead, all these years.

She might have been jailed away, but Belle has the feeling that he's the one who suffered the most.


	109. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Belle is not sure why it shocks her, when she's already seen how different this world is, but it takes her a moment to absorb that _this_ is Rumpelstiltskin's home. She glances up, part of her hoping to see a tower that overlooks their surroundings (she can't imagine Rumpelstiltskin being comfortable without knowing who's coming well before they're at his door), but is disappointed.

It's... just a house.

"It'll look more familiar from the inside," he promises, giving a crooked smile. "More cramped than before, as well."

Belle can't help raising a skeptical eyebrow. "You tease."

He laughs. "I wish."


	110. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

This time, when Rumpelstiltskin welcomes her into his home, his hand rests gently at the small of her back as he guides her through the door. The inside is dark for a few seconds until he turns the overhead lights on (and these she knows, for all that the one in her cell was much dimmer), and suddenly the room is both too big (she could fit her cell in one corner, Belle thinks) and so very small (they'd fit this all in one hallway of the castle).

But Rumpelstiltskin is standing by her side.

That's what'll make this home.


	111. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Belle is even more useless in the kitchen than when she first came to him. At least then she'd recognized the appliances, even if she'd never handled them before. Tonight she must listen carefully to Rumpelstiltskin's every instruction, and both marvel at and be dismayed by the many novelties.

"Please promise you won't get mad if I burn down this place?" she says, eyeing his every movement as he lights the stove.

He glances back at her, a little smirk on his face. "Did I fuss much every other time?"

Belle blushes. "It was just the once!"

And he laughs.


	112. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Knife already in hand, Belle belatedly realizes that there's no need to slice their bread. Who takes the time to handle _someone else's_ bread? Truly, she understood life in the Dark Castle better than here. "How did you get used to this..." She waves around the perplexing kitchen. "... _all_ this?"

Rumpelstiltskin stops stirring the contents of the pot (which smell delicious, for all they came from a can), and considers her question carefully. "The curse took care of that," he says at last. 

Belle thinks of her own confusion, not much better despite her returned memories. "Must have been nice."


	113. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Belle is exhausted when dinner is finished, as if now that she's safe her body is getting even for the decades without a truly restful moment. Rumpelstiltskin catches her yawning and wraps up his explanation of how the cold box - the fridge - works.

"I'm sorry," she says, fighting yet another yawn mid-word.

But unlike the times he found her struggling stubbornly through another chapter well after midnight, now he doesn't tease. "Come," he says, coming to his feet and leading the way to the stairs.

Last time, he shoved her into a dungeon.

Tonight, he shows her to his room.


	114. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

Since her arrival, Belle has spied little bits of their old life around the house; but in this room she doesn't recognize any of the furniture. That alone tells her which room this must be. "I don't understand," she says, half-frozen at the doorway. 

In the Dark Castle, his private rooms were the only ones where she and her duster were never invited.

The hand at her back gives her a small push, but she resists. "I can't..."

"I'm afraid you must, sweetheart." He looks abashed as he explains, "The curse didn't make me any fonder of guests, you see."


	115. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

He won't make excuses for the way they parted, nor does he apologize for abusing her trust today (for making her mad, yes, and that's it).

Yet here he is, embarrassed that he doesn't have another room ready for her.

"I guess you really couldn't have foreseen this," Belle says.

There's a flinch, but it smooths into a shrug before she can comment on it. "A most welcome surprise, I assure you," he tells her, ushering her into his bedroom. "Now, you rest. I'll be-"

"Here." She smiles when he wavers. "Stay, Rumpelstiltskin."

He looks confused, but he still nods.


	116. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

She was supposed to be dead. For years, that's what Rumpelstiltskin had believed; since he's been awake in this world, he's believed it too.

There _is_ a reason he never came to her rescue.

Belle is shamefully grateful for that fact. 

He was so determined, when he made her go. He'd always been so unwilling to admit to a mistake. Too many times she had been afraid he'd have forced his memory to forget her; that, in her prolonged absence, he'd convince himself it wasn't love.

But he was _missing_ her instead. Mourning her.

Yes, her gratefulness is her shame.


	117. OUAT - Belle&Rumpelstiltskin (Storybrooke)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79697323#t79697323). Prompt: **first night together**

They start the night on different sides of the bed, mumbling apologies every time they brush against each other. They aren't used to touch, other than the kisses they shared earlier, and as they're too exhausted for more than kisses, they feel the awkwardness of elbows and knees and cold feet. 

After an hour of this, Belle muffles a giggle against her pillow, and hears a responding chuckle in the darkness. "It's hopeless," she whispers, gathering the bravery to roll until she's flush against his side, and ignores the way Rumpelstiltskin freezes at her proximity. "Isn't it better this way?"


	118. BtVS - Buffy/Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Mahmfic at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79681195#t79681195). Prompt: **walls**.

Disappearances in an seemingly inoffensive town carnival didn't faze Buffy - after Sunnydale, nothing was beyond suspicion - but what _had_ worried her was that the victims were demons, both half-bloods and those so weak they ranked as annoyances in a Slayer's radar.

"Of course it's the maze," she sighed, unwrapping her arms from around Angel.

Whatever this was, it knew to wait until its meal was distracted by the romantic set-up of the center of the maze.

"It's smart," Angel echoed her thoughts, moving to cover her back against the walls that closed in on them.

Buffy grinned. "But I'm smarter."


	119. VM - Veronica/Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79681707#t79681707). Prompt: **unexpected romance**

Veronica took the scene in her living room in stride - the candlelight, the soft music, the meticulously set table for two - and allowed herself a single second of gaping before she turned to her boyfriend and said, "Should I start wondering if you've been cheating on me?"

Logan pulled up a chair for her, but the gentlemanly gesture was spoiled by a roll of his eyes. "No woman in Neptune is suicidal enough."

"So what's with the romance?" she asked, truly curious, and stole a kiss before sitting down.

"Eat first," he entreated, "I'll tell you what I broke later."


	120. OUAT - OC (Belle/Rumpelstiltskin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79682219#t79682219). Prompt: **they were amazed - they ran away in terror**

This was such a bad idea, Peter thought even as he followed the older boys to the big pink house. But he _was_ a big boy, a _brave_ big boy, and sneaking into the Dark One's garden was going to be _fun_.

But instead of monsters, they only found a lady spreading a blanket onto the grass, a picnic basket beside her. The Dark One appeared at her side, out of nowhere, making them gasp in amazement; but they regretted it when he turned toward the sound.

Peter screeched along with the others, and they all raced away in terror.


	121. Tudors - Anne Boleyn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79698603#t79698603). Prompt: **fall from grace**

There was once a girl, a happy girl who grew into a beautiful lady, who caught the eye of her King and became his beloved Queen. This girl, they say, then became a whore to keep the crown on her head (and so she now deserves to lose them both).

But people tell different stories; some will say she earned the crown with witchery, and they'll blame her for killing her husband's first wife; some will even whisper that she's innocent of it all.

Nobody will say that the Queen's crown was poisoned.

Nobody ever tells girls the important things.


	122. X-Men Movies - Rogue

"Hey, freak!"

Rogue rolled her eyes. Of course the anti-mutant gang had waited until Logan left to approach her, and soon they'd blocked any way out.

"Just turn around and I'll forget I saw you," she said. The group instead tightened the circle around her, pulling out their weapons. Rogue sighed. "We can do this easy way or the really hard _and_ painful way."

Their leader snorted. "You and what army?"

Logan had been approaching them from behind, but at that taunt he stopped, met her eyes, and smirked.

He did like watching her kick ass.

"Hard it is, then."


	123. X-Men Movies - Rogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79677355#t79677355). Prompt: **Rogue, the gloves come off**

Rogue picked herself up again, ignoring the bruises and pained ribs, and faced the stubborn mutant who believed that his path to greatness lay in killing every human in his path. His friends were slowing the rest of the team down, so Rogue had to figure out something, and soon.

"Just die," he screamed, his hands filling again with the energy bolts that had tossed her around so many times already. "You're nothing, just a powerless little girl, barely good enough as a distraction!"

"Just let me close enough," Rogue murmured, slipping off her gloves, "and I'll show you distraction."


	124. X-Men Movies - Rogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Scribble_MyName at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79677611#t79677611). Prompt: **one-woman army**

Rogue lets out a loud groan as her back slams against the practice mat again, in the hopes that Logan will take pity and call off this so-called training (Rogue labels it as torture sessions, but Logan had only laughed when she'd peevishly told him as much).

This time Logan doesn't even offer a hand up before he's snapping at her to try the move again.

Rogue glares at him without bothering to wait until his back is to her. "I'm not a one-woman army, Logan; I need a break!"

"No, you don't," he says impatiently, "and _yes, you are_."


	125. GWTW - Rhett(/Scarlett)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79680171#t79680171). Prompt: **meeting & falling in love & breaking up in five sentences**.

For years, he's wished Frank Kennedy had never brought him along to Twelve Oaks. He wouldn't have met that sixteen-year-old, dressed to the brink of propriety and holding all the local boys in her thrall, never would have imagined her pretty green eyes could be heartbroken one minute and blazing at him the next. He never would have recognized her in Atlanta, never danced with her and indulged her. Never married her and let her claw through his very heart.

He wouldn't be walking away tonight, his dreams in ashes.

If only Frank Kennedy hadn't been too polite a host.


	126. BtVS - Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568235.html?thread=79697835#t79697835). Prompt: **five times they should have said no.**

"Close your eyes," the beautiful lady says, and Liam, half in love already and drunk on her beauty, obeys without hesitation.

He should have smothered the impulse to take the little gypsy girl, and he should have said no to Whistler's recruitment speech, and he should have denied himself a girl's love...

"Close your eyes," that girl is saying, and Angel wants to ask why she's crying, why they're in this place at all. But Buffy never asks for anything, and he'd give her the world if he could.

He hesitates, just a little, but he still closes his eyes.


	127. Harry Potter - Marauders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Mahmfic at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/568494.html?thread=79728814#t79728814). Prompt: **can't be tamed**

James's hair stood victorious, mocking their useless attempts to tame it.

"Maybe another spell?" Sirius proposed.

Peter and Remus practically piled on top of James, shielding him from their friend's best intentions. "We just managed to turn it back to black," Remus reminded him.

Sirius, far from chagrined, laughed at the memory of James with purple-and-white hair. Despite the magic, it _still_ had pointed out in all directions. "It's hopeless, then. Evans will have to live with it."

"That's right," Remus said, trying for optimism. "Love my friend, love his hair!"

Peter sniggered.

James groaned. "She's never having my kids."


	128. Ugly Betty - Betty & Daniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Classics_Lover at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/332327.html?thread=59084327#t59084327). Prompt: **procrastination**

When women called out his name, their voices were usually heavy with lust, and they made these breathy moans rather than...

"Da-a-niel!"

Ah. Betty Suárez. This woman had yet to read the memo about Daniel being a creature adored by the female population.

A pinch to his nose made him jump up howling, "I'm up! I'm up!"

"I can't _believe_ this," Betty shrilled, though her disappointed gaze said she believed it all. "You procrastinate until the very last second - and then you fall asleep when I come to help!"

She'd read the memo, Daniel thought. She just knew better anyway.


	129. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written from Mahmfic at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/332327.html?thread=59094567#t59094567). Prompt: **A dazzling end**

He might have exhausted whatever mercy Malcolm was capable of granting, but Rumpelstiltskin isn't afraid to be struck as he joins his father's impromptu stage. 

They are showmen, bred and true; ever seeking applause.

It runs in their blood, this need for an audience.

Malcolm wouldn't deny himself this public confrontation anymore than he'd have sent the Lost Boys back home.

So Rumpelstiltskin acts out his role, the villain seeking redemption (too late, of course), makes his speeches (to Belle, to Bae; the others are irrelevant when it truly matters), and gives his father one last embrace.

End of scene.


	130. FMA - Ed/Winry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/569584.html?thread=79811312#t79811312). Prompt: **[artwork](http://m7angela.tumblr.com/image/100869102676) by M7Angela**.

"I hope she gets your eyes," he said.

"I hope _he_ gets yours."

He hugged her lightly, hands covering the barely-there baby bump. "As long as they get your brains..."

She smiled.

"...but without the stubbornness."

Out of his sight, her smile froze. "I'll be happy if they grow as tall as Al," she whispered.

Silence.

Then, "Hey! _I'm_ taller now!"

She twirled around, an eyebrow cocked high. "Than Al?"

He snapped his mouth shut, then swiped his hand over the crown of her head, brushing against his nose. "Taller than you," he said triumphantly, "and that's all that matters!"


	131. Aladdin - Aladdin/Jasmine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for effingeden at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/491617.html?thread=73042529#t73042529). Prompt: **Why won't you look at me like that?**

Despite having dismissed Rajah and come sit next to her fiance, Aladdin pointedly kept practicing sleights of hand with Abu. "Are you mad?"

Aladdin shook his head. "I'm just playing with my furry best friend, for hours and hours. Why would I be mad?"

He _was_ mad, and he was also... "You 're jealous? _Of Rajah_?"

"Noooo!" At a quirk of her eyebrow, he gave up. "It's just... why won't you look at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you would happily spend the rest of your life petting me."

Jasmine kissed his pout. "Isn't that what marriage is about?"


	132. BJT - Lektra (>Daemon)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/491617.html?thread=73044577#t73044577). Prompt: **when yearning turns to jealousy**

Until she'd met Roxie, Lektra's yearning for Daemon had been met with amused smirks and, more often as he and his Queen visited Amdarh, pitying looks. That he was devoted, they said. That they were in love. 

Hah!

Roxie had told her what Lektra already suspected, that the High Lord told his sons which bed to warm. If his adopted daughter fancied a Warlord Prince, then Daemon had been made to sign a contract as her Consort. 

It made so much sense!

But soon - oh so soon! - Daemon would be free to choose a real witch.

Lektra herself, of course.


	133. FMA - Alphonse (+ Ed/Winry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/491617.html?thread=73046369#t730463692). Prompt: **One of the stupidest things he ever did was mention being jealous of automail.**

Al made sure that his brother was out of earshot, still sulking, before he dialed a familiar number. "Aunt Pinako? Yes. He's here. Mind if I ask... Ah. She _did_ toss him out. Yes, better than braining him first; they _have_ grown up." Al cringed. "That bad? Oh. Worse than when he was supposedly jealous of Winry's dedication to her job? Yes. That was stupid. He _is_ her favorite client, I agree. So... out of curiosity... He said _what?!_."

Al covered the mouthpiece.

"Brother! Did you really accuse Winry of paying more attention to her _newborn child_ than to you?!"


	134. Highlander/OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin & Methos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for TigrisWolf at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/378702.html?thread=64981838#t64981838). Prompt: **Once Upon a Time/Highlander, Rumpelstiltskin + Methos, author’s choice**

Rumpelstiltskin waited until Zelena's exit before he addressed the unexpected guest. "A slick one," he praised gleefully, giving him the courtesy of halting his spinning. "Tricking a witch; tricky-slicky indeed!"

"I'm good at remaining unnoticed."

Rumpelstiltskin crinkled his nose dismissively. "Filthy habit!"

The man stepped closer, unafraid. He wasn't a big man, but the sword made up for it. Rumpelstiltskin knew how to deal with sword-wielding fools - what trinket could be useful, in this cell? - but conversation made for a nice commodity, these days. "What _do_ you want?"

The man peered at him, then lowered his sword. "Nothing from you."


	135. FMA - Ed/Winry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/491617.html?thread=73046113#t73046113). Prompt: **Winry doesn't _usually_ get jealous of Fullmetal Alchemist fanboys/girls. **

"I've read _all_ about you," the girl gushed, bringing a hand up to pat Ed's arm.

Ed avoided her touch, but he didn't point her to the door. He was probably too uncomfortable, with a stranger invading his personal space, to notice the flirting.

It was cute.

It drove Winry completely mad.

She didn't usually mind the Fullmetal Alchemist fans wandering into their life; Ed _deserved_ the recognition. But this girl? This girl made Winry wonder what kind of angle and force her wrench would need to fly across the shop and land straight across her nose. 

Accidentally, of course.


	136. Blood + - Hagi (/Saya)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for BlondeBabe800 at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/527327.html?thread=75842783#t75842783). Prompt: **_There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how_ \--Wonderwall, Oasis**

In the beginning he's bound to Saya's service, the little mouse tossed in the cat's path, to see if the cat will discover the pleasure of the hunt. But instead they learn to trust each other, and when his feelings change, Hagi has no idea what to say.

Now he wants to reassure her that she is still beloved, that Diva's treachery wasn't her fault. But Saya won't welcome soft words, so instead he lets her grip his hand so tightly that his palm would be slashed to ribbons, if not for his new skin.

Actions speak louder, after all.


	137. Addams Family - Morticia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ELD at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/453274.html?thread=71031962#t71031962). Prompt: **The children's school is having its annual bake sale. The offering from Morticia nearly causes a riot.**

Only the bravest souls approached the Addams stand. Morticia's offerings looked normal enough, considering where they came from, but... well... It was awkward to peruse the options while her husband kept distracting her, and every other women present, with his effusive displays of affection.

"What _do_ you give him?" one lady dared to ask, eyeing Gomez's behavior jealously.

Morticia's lips curved into a self-satisfied smile - "Whatever he wants." - and she fed him a cookie.

That almost caused a riot.

Maybe the rumor was wrong. Maybe the cookies weren't what kept a spouse so enamored.

But it was worth the shot.


	138. Sherlock (BBC) - John

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Laelila at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/418862.html?thread=67806254#t67806254). Prompt: **the three things he likes reminding everyone: 1. He's not gay; 2. He's not Sherlock's date; 3. He's not a sidekick.**

After a while, John can see why strangers keep believing he's Sherlock's boyfriend. They hang out together everywhere - more often than actual dating, really - and their concept of personal space has shrunk to a non-entity. 

He still protests, of course. His dating pool is shallow enough already, with every woman he's dated warning her friends that the best way to avoid Sherlock Holmes's abrasive tongue is to avoid his roommate as well, and rumors that he's gay won't improve the situation.

But John could live with it, if people didn't _also_ call him Sherlock's sidekick.

That, he won't let stand.


	139. BtVS - Willow (>Xander)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Juliet316 at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/104494.html?thread=23105070#t23105070). Prompt: **puppy love**

Willow doesn't like the term 'puppy love'. It's too one-sided, she thinks. It makes her think of an eager little dog barking for their master's attention, wagging its tail and doing tricks in exchange for an indulgent smile and a pat on the head for being such a good sport.

"You're a real pal, Will!" Xander says, relieved that his Algebra homework is now correctly finished. "What can I do to thank you?"

She stares down at the table but can't help a hopeful smile. "N-nothing."

"Aw, come on. You _so_ deserve a treat!"

Willow's smile fades.

A treat, indeed.


	140. Glee - Finn/Rachel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Vesca_Viridian at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/529588.html?thread=75963316#t75963316). Prompt: **I Was Told There'd Be Cake**.

Utterly baffled, Hiram and Leroy watched as Rachel led her boyfriend into their living room to join their weekly family movie night. "Finn," Hiram ventured, "do you enjoy obscure musicals? It's Rachel's pick tonight, you know."

"Ah..." The boy blinked. "Yes?"

Hiram and Leroy exchanged glances, which led to Leroy asking for Rachel's help in the kitchen.

"How'd you get him to come, sweetheart?"

"I explained it was important that he bonded with the heretofore prominent male figures in my life." At her father's skeptical look, Rachel gave a huge sigh and confessed, "And I told him there'd be cake."


	141. VM - Wallace + Veronica/Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Vesca_Viridian at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/529588.html?thread=75963572#t75963572). Prompt: **How to Lose Friends and Alienate People**

"All I need," Wallace summarized after having explained the situation, "is to learn how to get her off my back."

Veronica frowned at him. "And... you want my advice."

Wallace nodded eagerly.

"Seriously?" She tilted her head toward her boyfriend. "Because _that's_ the expert on how to dump girlfriends...."

"Wait there, Mars," said expert protested. "What Wallace needs is the total destruction of any previous affection - right? Because it sounds like he's tried everything else."

" _Everything_ ," Wallace agreed. "And she won't go."

"See? And when it comes to alienating people permanently, " -Logan glanced at her fondly- "Veronica Mars, you're it."


	142. BtVS - Giles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for ammcj062 at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/529588.html?thread=75967412#t79955124): Prompt: **Fool's Errand**

On his first ride from Los Angeles to Sunnydale, Giles tried not to get too attached to the nice weather or the vintage car he'd gotten for a song. His stay in this country didn't promise to be long, unless the Council let him keep the next Slayer if he proved that this hellmouth was a true threat.

In the meanwhile he'd make do with Miss Summers. He'd do his best, of course, but his hopes weren't high. The girl would already be dead if not by Merrick's intervention, after all.

The trick, he thought, was not to get attached.


	143. Big Bang Theory - Penny/Leonard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75542737#t75542737). Prompt: **Very Wicked Things**

Penny's fingers sifted through his short hair as they kissed, and Leonard felt his grip on her hips grow tighter as he pictured her cherry-red nails.

"Mmm," Penny said, squirming a little.

Leonard first thought she was complaining at the rough touch, but instead she kissed his ear. "Are we feeling playful today? Perhaps a little... wicked?"

Leonard gulped. Oh. One of those moods. "Y-yes," he agreed, then coughed to strengthen his voice. "Very wicked." Penny let her teeth graze against his skin and Leonard had to remind himself to keep his grip strong. "Very, _very_ wicked... yes, that, please?"


	144. Repo! - Mag&Marni

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for EffingEded at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/571363.html?thread=79965155#t79965155). Prompt: **Chase the morning**
> 
> **[YouTube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZcxUaPpZPM).  
> **

Mag glanced enraptured as her best friend sang through the chorus of their favorite song. It was a simple tune, but Marni's voice gave it an evocative feeling, as if the perfect morning were truly within the listener's grasp.

She was incomparable; her long dress, her expressive hands. _Unforgettable._

"Gorgeous!" Mag said. "I still can't believe GeneCo is hiring _me_ , when they could have your voice instead."

Marni blushed a little. Ah, yes. Everyone knew that Rotti Largo wanted more than Marni's voice.

"You deserve it," Marni said, meaning it.

 _And you deserve the world_ , Mag didn't say.

Not yet.


	145. Sherlock (BBC) - John/Sherlock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Mahmfic at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75541457#t75541457). Prompt: **Just Another Soldier**

Richard Grey had obviously allowed this visit because of Sherlock's last name, rather than any desire to investigate his heir's death. He had spares, after all.

"I understood that you worked alone," Grey complained after noticing John.

That earned one of Sherlock's eye rolls.

"Why is this man here?" Grey tried again. 

Sherlock exhaled noisily. "It's better than Afghanistan."

"It is," John agreed simply, enjoying the way the man's forehead wrinkled as he worked this out.

"Oh. Another soldier."

Sherlock's disdainful look dwarfed Grey's attempt. "He's _Dr. Watson_."

 _He's mine_ , he might as well have said.

John liked that tone.


	146. OUAT - Rumpelstiltskin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Yuidirnt at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75544529#t75544529). Prompt: **Gorgeous chaos**.

Finally. _Finally_. So many decades - centuries! - with only glimpses. So many years fretting that Regina would turn away from vengeance and leave him to start all over again. But no. Of course not. She was _meant_ to use his curse. Even if Rumpelstiltskin had never crossed her path, her heart would still be the black broken mess she carries around.

Stubborn Regina. Vengeful Regina. Gorgeous, twisted little girl!

She can have her little whims as long as she takes him across worlds. Let her bring the chaos she dreams of. Let her enslave them all!

She was meant to, anyway.


	147. BtVS - Buffy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Amai_Kaminari at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75548625#t75548625). Prompt: **Only the End of the World Again**

At the sound of her name, Buffy looked up from her novel to find half a dozen pale-looking girls staring at her. "Yes?"

Sarah, the oldest, answered, her voice wavering, "It's raining blood."

Buffy glanced out the window and rolled her eyes. "Great. A showy one." Standing up, she made sure to mark her page and then motioned at the other Slayers to follow her. "Let's go, girls. Time to stop the end of the world, _again_."

"That's it?" one of them muttered.

"What, you want a speech?" When a few nodded, Buffy shrugged. "Sorry. It's Willow's turn this time."


	148. Mercy Thompson - Mercy&Jesse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Radondoran at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75550417#t75550417). Prompt: **If At All Possible, Involve A Cow**

Mercy glared down at the two youngsters. At least her stepdaughter looked appropriately chastised; Gabriel, on the other hand, could hardly swallow his giggles.

Truth be told, neither could Mercy.

But only she was left. The other grown-ups had either decamped, after these two arrived, or they were roaring in laughter in their rooms.

"A _cow_?"

"It needed a home!" Jesse cried. "She was going to be sacrificed otherwise!" To get some support, she elbowed her partner-in-crime. "Tell her."

Gabriel nodded obediently.

The kids had meant well, she knew. "Fine," Mercy decided. "But it goes before the next full moon."


	149. BBT - Penny & Bernadette & Amy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Effingeden at [Comment Fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/522961.html?thread=75555537#t75555537). Prompt: **The Bride Who Wore Black Leather**.

"Isn't it too early for wedding dresses?" Penny asked, clutching onto her wineglass for dear life. The girls meant well, but this would be _hours_ of dealing with Bernadette's and Amy's fashion senses.

"The dress?" Bernadette sneered. "Forget about that. That's only for the official pictures. We came to help with _this_."

On cue, Amy opened a catalog. "Wedding night apparel," she announced.

Penny almost dropped her glass. "Guys... This is all S&M oriented."

Bernadette gave her an irritated look. "Are you saying you're too good for sense-enhancing, warm and luscious leather?"

"Eh..." Penny gulped down her wine. "No?"


	150. Labyrinth - Sarah & Sir Didymus

Sarah beamed as another challenge - a giant, this time - was beaten and all was safe again.

"You did well, milady," said Sir Didymus, from atop Ambrosius' back, though he sounded worried. No, Sarah thought, he must be disappointed that she'd barely used his help. "Perhaps you should go home?"

Sarah frowned, looking around the piece of forest the king had granted her. "But I'm home already."

Sir Didymus shook his head.

There had been another place, full of pain and disappointments. She'd wished herself away, oh, a long time ago. "I'm home," she insisted.

Sir Didymus sighed. "Of course, milady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTINUES [HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2601533?view_full_work=true).


End file.
